Cardi B’s ‘Bodak Yellow’ Lands Historic Number One on Hot 100
Cardi B’s breakout single “Bodak Yellow” landed at Number One in one of the most contested, scrutinized Hot 100 battles in recent years.
By finishing first, the Love & Hip Hop star became the first solo female rapper to reign atop the Hot 100 since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in November 1998, a span of almost 19 years. Other female rappers – like Iggy Azalea (“Fancy,” with Charli XCX) and Shawna (as Ludacris’ guest on “Stand Up”) – reached Number One on the Hot 100, but Cardi B is the first since Hill to do it alone, Billboard reports.
This week’s race was particularly contentious as Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” vied for a fourth week atop the Hot 100. Spin reported Swift’s camp may have tried to sustain the song’s stature through piggybacking video views on behind-the-scenes video footage and by reducing the price of the digital single on iTunes. However, on Monday, Billboard declared “Bodak Yellow” prevailed.
Elsewhere, Post Malone’s out-of-nowhere hit “Rockstar” entered the Hot 100 at Number Two, one spot ahead of Taylor Swift’s three-time Hot 100 winner “Look What You Made Me Do.”
While “Rockstar,” which features 21 Savage, was the week’s biggest selling and most streamed single, “Bodak Yellow” earned Number One thanks to its massive advantage in the radio airplay department, with the track tallying 62 million plays.